What turntable would You guys suggest for, let's say 300-350 euros. New and second hand.

Technics 1200 MKII but you can actually get a 1600 or 1700 MKII for much less than that. These were the semi-automatic "living room" versions. Internally they're basically the same as the 1200 except for automatic tonearm lift and the lack of a start/stop button (which is only good for DJing anyway). I bought a 1710 MKII for 110 Euros this summer. The automatics actually suck since these are the first parts to break but you don't have to use these features really.

Yeah .. I'm pretty dissapointed. I might just cut my losses and put it on the back burner and fix it up later as a back up unit or something. I saw a Technics SL-1200MK2 on craigslist for $200 so I might spring for that.

I always advise people to just grab "that cheapo Sony turntable" whenever they want to get something to listen to records on first and foremost for cheap. It's really not bad, either. Very middle-of-the-road for a good price. I've had one for 7 years without a single issue. Might not be the cool option, but it's a cheap one, and I'd imagine it'd work especially well as a stop-gap.

I'm not opposed to getting something decent (a little above entry level) I just gotta get my ducks in a row and figure out where I want to have it land. Should have something in the next few weeks here hopefully.

definitely dont knock the cheap O sonys... I had one of the said cheap $120 sony turntables that was my work horse for about 10 years. until recently when I finally had to replace it, it worked completely perfect for the longest time and had survived being taken apart and shipped across country in 3x different moves with no issues at all. the motor eventually started doing whacky possessed things and towards the end, it would decide to play @ 45 rpm on its own, only reverting back to 33 when it was feeling less temperamental

I STRONGLY recommend checking out Needle in a Haystack on Lane if you have not been there yet... I had heard about this place for years as the place to go for replacement stylus's, repairs, etc but had not stopped in until recently to address issues with my new turntable (which I had asked about previously in this thread) shop RULES.. the guy is a little odd, but really cool once you get used to his style and get him talking. ULTRA informative and also sells lots of cool old electronics folks dont claim after repairs, etc. anyhow, I would recommend dropping by there and checking what he has available (always in constant rotation) if you take said turntable in with you, he should be able to give you accurate and honest advise (for free at that which is great) had I have not decided to have him clean out the pods and such due to my speed adjustment knobs being sticky causing the speed to "wobble" if you will (im told this is due to being old and corroded) however the proper tone arm balancing/set up plus over an hour of conversation about things that went way over my head would have been FREE. I have my eyes on a reel to reel player he has in there now. preparing to make an offer on it as soon as he gets it back in working order _________________trade-want list/available list- http://www.nwnprod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20339

I've noticed the Shure M97xe I got doesn't have a perfectly straight needle, either. Over time I think it hasn't "woken up" as most cartridges should. Instead, it seems to enjoy putting through distortion on the right channel. I've fiddled with it for about as long as I can stand and I'm thinking I should either try again with the same brand or try an Ortofon 2m red. Any recommendations? To anyone who owns an Ortofon red, do you need to purchase a special headhsell with it, or will a Technics shell do the job?_________________The sweetest sweet scent of their fresh let blood

Yeah .. I'm pretty dissapointed. I might just cut my losses and put it on the back burner and fix it up later as a back up unit or something. I saw a Technics SL-1200MK2 on craigslist for $200 so I might spring for that.

I always advise people to just grab "that cheapo Sony turntable" whenever they want to get something to listen to records on first and foremost for cheap. It's really not bad, either. Very middle-of-the-road for a good price. I've had one for 7 years without a single issue. Might not be the cool option, but it's a cheap one, and I'd imagine it'd work especially well as a stop-gap.

I'm not opposed to getting something decent (a little above entry level) I just gotta get my ducks in a row and figure out where I want to have it land. Should have something in the next few weeks here hopefully.

definitely dont knock the cheap O sonys... I had one of the said cheap $120 sony turntables that was my work horse for about 10 years. until recently when I finally had to replace it, it worked completely perfect for the longest time and had survived being taken apart and shipped across country in 3x different moves with no issues at all. the motor eventually started doing whacky possessed things and towards the end, it would decide to play @ 45 rpm on its own, only reverting back to 33 when it was feeling less temperamental

I STRONGLY recommend checking out Needle in a Haystack on Lane if you have not been there yet... I had heard about this place for years as the place to go for replacement stylus's, repairs, etc but had not stopped in until recently to address issues with my new turntable (which I had asked about previously in this thread) shop RULES.. the guy is a little odd, but really cool once you get used to his style and get him talking. ULTRA informative and also sells lots of cool old electronics folks dont claim after repairs, etc. anyhow, I would recommend dropping by there and checking what he has available (always in constant rotation) if you take said turntable in with you, he should be able to give you accurate and honest advise (for free at that which is great) had I have not decided to have him clean out the pods and such due to my speed adjustment knobs being sticky causing the speed to "wobble" if you will (im told this is due to being old and corroded) however the proper tone arm balancing/set up plus over an hour of conversation about things that went way over my head would have been FREE. I have my eyes on a reel to reel player he has in there now. preparing to make an offer on it as soon as he gets it back in working order

Yeah I'm going to check them out. This thing is such a disappointing POS though that I think I'm going to put it on the back burner for now and get it fixed later as a backup.